Whooping cough case prompts notification to parents

A case of whooping cough at San Pasqual High School in Escondido last month has prompted health and school officials to notify parents about the highly contagious disease.

A San Pasqual 10th-grader was diagnosed with pertussis, also known as whooping cough, and has been out of school since May 18. However, other students, faculty and staff may have been exposed during the first two weeks of May and possibly the end of April, according to the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency.

All San Pasqual High School families were notified by phone or letter, and given information about the illness, according to the Escondido Union High School District.

Parents are urged to contact their physician if they or their children have or develop a cough. Whooping cough usually starts with flu-like symptoms, such as runny nose, sneezing, fever and a mild cough. It can be treated with antibiotics. Infants and young children are at highest risk of life-threatening complications.

Wilma Wooten, county public health officer, warns that immunization protection wans between five and 10 years, so those previously vaccinated can develop the disease and pass it on to infants.

Wooten said 90 percent of young infants who contract the illness usually get it from an adult. She recommends all adolescents and adults get booster shots.

There have been 24 cases of pertussis reported in the county through May. Wooten said there were 145 cases reported in 2006.

More information about whooping cough and immunizations is available by calling (619) 692-8661, or at the County Health and Human Services Web site at www.immunization-sd.org.